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Harrach Stained Glass

One of our cast glass sculptures

One of our silver pendants (PMC)

Helpful hints and tips that we find online, in books and from our own personal experiences

Lots of great information for Stained Glass (Tiffany and Leaded), Lampworking, Fusing, Slumping, Glass Painting, Sandcarving, Mosaics and more

Lastly, HARRACH is pronounced, Hair - wreck

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Mirror sandblasting notes

We discovered this great information one day when we were looking up sandblasting information on cuttingedgesandcarving.com and just had to share it with our readers. This posting was made by Kerri, from Mayflower, AR, unfortunately that was all of the information we could find.

If you are etching the back of a mirror you must also protect the front of the mirror. You can use a clear or light colored tape or shelving paper while working on it, since there is nothing more frustrating than finishing a piece and turning it over, just to see it has been scratched or a corner chipped.

I etch from the back. I also use vinyl most of the time. I have used Ultra Pro Blue with success also.I blast at 25-30 psi. It is a fascinating process to watch the silver come off! I leave the vinyl on then paint (you don't have too, you can take the vinyl off..but for me that just adds another step where I take the chance of breaking the piece!) . You can paint with just about any type of spay paint. I have even used brush on acrylics. If you want different colors, just use masking tape to block off the areas that you don't want painted 'X" color and spray the rest. Let dry and put a second coat on it. Use light coats other wise it takes forever to dry. When you are ready for the next color, take the masking tape off and spray the next color. Don't worry about masking the area off where "X" color is, as it the second layer of paint will not show through the first. Once you are done, spray the whole area with black paint (matte or gloss it doesn't matter). This final coat tends to give a final finish and bring out the other colors really well. I think that in the hand paintedsignworld this final step is called 'backing up'.

The pic shown below is from Kerri, who posted it on the Cutting Edge Sand Carving webpage.

Harrach Glass

Harrach Glass is a glass art studio located in scenic Santa Fe, New Mexico. We offer classes where you can learn how to create your own leaded or foiled stained glass windows! We also make custom stained glass windows locally and sell art glass gifts online.